Not long before, we launched Guardian Zeitgeist, an application on our site created by developer Dan Catt, which shows the stories which are currently getting the most "social attention" – mentions on Twitter, shares on Facebook, comments on our site, and so on. Both of these experiments had in common the social activity of people on the web around our Guardian content, reflected on our site.

But now we're trying something different.

Today at f8, Facebook's developer conference, the Guardian unveiled its first Facebook app, a new social news experience that makes it easier for Facebook users to discover Guardian content online with and via their friends.

That means that all the familiar Facebook functionality is there as well – see the faces of other people who have interacted around the same content, discover news stories filtered by your social graph; comment, like and share articles, plus become a fan of specific Guardian and Observer sections to be alerted to the latest content you're interested in.

If you choose to use the app, then when you follow links on Facebook to the Guardian's website, you will be shown the content on a Facebook page. This enables you to see what your friends are also reading from the Guardian, and what is proving popular from the site among Facebook users. You can try the Guardian Facebook app directly by visiting http://apps.facebook.com/theguardian and choosing the "Use this application" option. You'll also come across it if you follow links to Guardian content posted by your Facebook friends. Privacy settings enable you to control how much you share with your friends.

If you use Facebook but don't want to see Guardian content through the app, no problem – just decline when asked, and you'll be sent straight through to the same content on the Guardian site, as usual. Your preference will be remembered, though you can always visit the app page on Facebook to give it a try if you change your mind.

We've had a significant presence on Facebook for some time so we're excited to be part of the launch of the new Facebook platform, with this application, and we hope it demonstrates that it's possible to get the best of both the social and news worlds, drawing on the social functionality that users are already familiar with inside the Facebook environment to highlight and discover quality Guardian content.